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China govt to help grads start businesses

College graduates prepare their resumes during a job fair on Sunday in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. This year is expected to be the hardest year for college graduates to find a job since the economic downturn. The central government has released a series of policies recently to ease the pressure on graduates and increase their job prospects.

The central government released a string of measures on Tuesday supporting student entrepreneurs and startup businesses as the country's college graduates face another tough year in the job market.

As part of a plan to support startup businesses from 2014 to 2017, the State Council issued a notice requiring colleges to open courses that prepare their graduates to start businesses. Financial institutions should also provide banking services that fit the graduates' needs.

The country will see a total of 7.27 million college graduates this year, a majority of whom are expected to enter the job market in June. The number will be 280,000 more than last year, which was considered the hardest year to find a job since the global economic downturn.

The notice also said that the government will encourage enterprises, industry associations and angel investors to provide funding for student entrepreneurs through multiple funding channels.

The government also made it clear that it will encourage startup businesses on e-commerce platforms, and college graduates who open such businesses will be given small-sum guaranteed loans and interest subsidies.

The notice also stressed the implementation of some earlier support measures, including lowering the threshold for registering a company, tax reductions and tax exemptions for college graduates and students who return from overseas studies.

The measures that encourage startups are part of a string of policies designed to help college graduates cope with challenges in the job market this year.

The central government will encourage the graduates to work at grassroots levels and in the country's less developed central and western provincial areas.

Small and micro businesses that recruit college graduates will be given one-year social insurance subsidies, and such businesses in the technological industries will be given a maximum of 2 million yuan (S$402,000) in small-sum guaranteed loans.